Divorce Monday: Today is the day when couples call it quits

TODAY is Divorce Monday for thousands of warring couples whose marriages are in trouble.

Many couple's differences come to a head after spending too much money and time together [POSED BY MODELS/GETTY]

The first Monday of the new year has earned the nickname from ­legal experts as it is the most popular day to file for divorce.

Marital strains come to a head over the festive season as people spend a lot of time together and problems are highlighted.

It leads to a deluge of calls to ­solicitors when the children go back to school, which coincides with the first day back to work for many people, according to the website DivorceDepot.

Its survey of 1,000 people found the biggest marital strains were finances, which affected one in three people, followed by excess alcohol, in-laws and rows over cooking and gift buying.

But for 12 per cent, just spending extra time with their partner caused the cracks to show.

Christmas forces difficult family and financial issues to arise between many couples [POSED BY MODELS/GETTY]

DivorceDepot, which offers do-it-yourself divorce petitions for £29.99, says the number using such services increased by 35 per cent to around 25,000 last year and this year could see a similar rise.

Ruth Sutherland, chief executive of relationship support service Relate, said: “New Year is a time when many of us naturally assess how life is going and this can make people think about relationships.”

If talk of divorce isn’t bad enough, today is also set to be the most depressing day of the year.

Analysis of comments on Twitter using a “happiness index” in January over the past three years has revealed that the first Monday is the most miserable.